Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Shameless Season 2

 


The 12-episode second season of Shameless aired in the winter and spring of 2012. It picks up months after the events ending season 1. The first part of the season focuses on Karen acting out as everyone discovers what happened with Frank and Lip trying to keep some kind of relationship with her. Fiona is working a series of summer jobs, primarily earning money as a server in a club, and is rebounding from Steve as he has gone off to South America. Frank continues to be the neighborhood menace, finding a new mark to scam as Shelia starts to venture out of the house more and more, as he is afraid that she will find out how he really is. I will not say more about the storylines because there are some twists and turns along the way this season, but as was the case in season one, it does the story of the week theme very well, along with having callbacks to prior storylines as well as wrapping up others.

The series continues to be well-written and acted. William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum still hold their own as the series leads and continue doing a great job as the characters of Frank and Fiona. This season, Jeremy Allen Wright as Lip and Laura Slade Wiggins as Karen steal many of the episodes. Even as a show with very few "good" characters, but mostly characters with varying degrees of horribleness, the writers and actors make you feel for, and even root for, the characters.

The Blu-ray set is a two-disc set with about 50 minutes of bonus material. The extras include several behind-the-scenes/making-of featurettes and deleted scenes for many, but not all, episodes. As was the case in season one, there is a lot of drinking, drug use, sex, and swearing that goes on. So, if that turns you off to a show, then this one is not for you. It does have a lot of dark humor, but it does not glorify or make fun of dysfunctional people and families. If you liked or loved season one, you will probably feel the same way about this season. On the other hand, if you hated the first season, this season will probably not make you a fan.

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